


don't dream it's over

by verynearlysouffled



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Post-Episode: Revolution of the Daleks, The Doctor and her TARDIS are both going to miss their son Ryan so so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28627935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verynearlysouffled/pseuds/verynearlysouffled
Summary: The Doctor is just trying to do some simple repairs to the ship, but the TARDIS is proving difficult. Or, the Doctor and the TARDIS both take a moment to consider how much they will miss Ryan.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Ryan Sinclair
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	don't dream it's over

**Author's Note:**

> literally knocked these 700 words out in like twenty minutes because apparently the absolute zero concentration i’ve had all day could be overruled for some angst around the doctor and her son ryan ❤️ it does end a bit happier though, with some nice doctor/yaz stuff! it’s mostly just a little follow up to ‘revolution of the daleks’. anyway i love one dad and son.
> 
>   
> title from crowded house's ‘don’t dream it’s over’.

“I’m not sure why you’re being so difficult,” the Doctor said, frowning down at the TARDIS engine. “This is so routine that even Ryan could do it, and he did! So I definitely know what I’m doing.”

The TARDIS lights flashed above her and the image of Ryan was pushed through her mind for just a moment. Her mouth opened with an, " _Oh_ ," and she sighed. “That’s it isn’t it? You miss Ryan? Me too,” she said, voice soothing and sad, a hand reaching out to rest on the TARDIS. “It’s my fault. Ten months away and he moved on.” She paused in her work for a moment, setting the spanner she was using in her other hand down. “Though, I feel it’s worth pointing out that that was your fault. I set all coordinates perfectly- Ow!”

The Doctor had reached for the spanner again, but an electric shock shot through her hand. “What’s that about?” The TARDIS, indignant, stayed silent now. The Doctor rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m sorry. I know. You’ve always done right by me, haven’t you, old girl?” With a small half-smile, she safely picked up the spanner and returned to her work tightening the bolt in place.

“It’s for the best, I suppose,” she continued, and she felt her smile drop a little, the grief overtaking her for a moment. No, not grief. Regret? Guilt? Pride? Some combination of all of that, she decided. “Ryan is all grown up… Those ten months have done so much for him, I’m sad to have missed it.”

She moved to the next section, unwinding the bolt so she could continue her safety assessment of the temporal locators. Undo the four bolts, remove the plate, realign and calibrate internal dimensions and universal positioning systems, reattach the plate and tighten all four bolts in place again. Simple, now that the TARDIS was behaving again.

“You know, it doesn’t have to be over, does it? We’ll go back to Sheffield at some point for Yaz, anyway. We’ll visit him and Graham, have a cuppa, and I can invite them back for a visit. That’ll be nice for you. Ryan was always better at cleaning out the fuel capacitors anyway.”

The lights flashed above her again, and she smiled. “I know, I know. Stop giving him all the grunt work. He was a good mechanic for you, young Ryan. We just have to be patient and see what else he’ll get up to now he’s left us.” That ache in her heart (one sad, one happy), flared up again. There was nothing to be done for it.

“Doctor?” 

It was Yaz’s (tired) voice coming from above her in the main console room.

“Down here!” she called out. “Just some repairs. We can be on our way in a minute, if you lik- Oh, there you are Yaz!”

Yaz was already at the stairway smiling, and the Doctor returned her smile.

“What are you up to?” Yaz said, coming over and sitting down beside her.

“Just some basic maintenance of the positioning systems, so that we can tell where we end up,” she said, looking over briefly as she finished tightening the last bolt in place. “Almost done, though.”

“We don’t have to rush off,” Yaz said. “Not straight away. How about a quiet day?”

A quiet day. It sounded.... too quiet. All the same, the Doctor nodded. “Okay. A quiet day. And then tomorrow we can head off somewhere. I’ve been thinking of the seven moons of Hydro lately. Moon number four has some excellent waterfalls, and behind them is this amazing cave system. Goes for miles and miles. I’ve never been, but I hear they have crystals the size of a moose.”

Yaz’s head was tilted as she smiled back at the Doctor, and the Doctor hesitated for a moment. “What?”

“Nothing, I’ve just missed you,” Yaz said. She shook her head, as if there was something funny in all this. The Doctor didn’t quite understand, but as Yaz held out a hand, the Doctor accepted it without hesitation. “Come on, we can watch a movie.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i'm on tumblr as 'cordeychase'. comments and kudos always appreciated!


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